Removable magnetic media support is generally lacking on most platforms. The Microsoft family of Windows operating systems current support for large magnetic removable media is insufficient for good customer experience. Optical removable media is receiving much more industry support in terms of operating system usage.
In September 1995, the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA), published specifications for a read/write file system known as Universal Disk Format (UDF), designed to be a single file system interchange standard for computer-based applications. An implementation of the International Standards Organization (ISO) interchange standard for non-sequential recording of data (ISO 13346), UDF was engineered to make optical storage solutions independent of the data system. Universal Disk Format is a universal vendor-independent file system for optical media designed for data interchange and portability, allowing an operating system to read, write and modify data stored on optical media that was created by another operating system. The UDF is defined by the Universal Disk Format® Specification, Revisions 1.0 to 2.50, with the latest published Apr. 30, 2003 by the Optical Storage Technology Association, which is incorporated by reference herein.
What is needed is support for large magnetic removable devices by treating the removable magnetic media as if it were a removable optical device. Moving to an optical interface puts removable magnetic media on par to compete with the Optical drive industry such as CD/DVD type devices, rather than being compared to the hard drive industry.